![]() German doctrine saw the SPz 12-3 as part of the squad's equipment, and the squad was trained to fight with the vehicle in both offense and defense. The German military came to this decision as a result of its World War II experience with Panzergrenadiere (armored infantry). Rejecting American doctrine that an armored personnel carrier should serve as a "battlefield taxi" and not as an assault vehicle, the Germans developed the HS.30 as a vehicle to fight alongside tanks and from which their mechanized infantry could fight from under cover. The HS.30 first entered service with the Panzergrenadier battalions in 1960 and was replaced by the Marder infantry fighting vehicle from 1971. 2,176 SPz HS.30 and variants were built until 1962, for which the German government paid 517 million DM about 238,000 DM per vehicle. Its design proved to have many flaws and drawbacks, and the construction was followed by a major political scandal in West Germany in the 1960s. It was armed with a powerful 20 mm autocannon, a common choice for infantry fighting vehicles of the period. After some early mechanical problems, only 2,176 were built of the 10,680 planned. It was a Swiss Hispano-Suiza design, with a Rolls-Royce engine. Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30, formally Schützenpanzer, lang, Typ 12-3, or SPz lg 12-3 for short ( German for "Infantry-tank, long, Type 12-3"), was a West German infantry fighting vehicle developed from 1956 to 1958. ![]()
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